EDS@net product

[Hawk]

I am considering EDS as a provider for their PC product. Just wondering if anyone here uses it and what their impressions are. I loved the demo and the sales rep, but everyone is telling me they can't deliver with that product. Post any thoughts you might have on their @net PC system if you can. Thanks.

Hawk

[Matt Parsons]

Hawk, I certainly hope that some of our current clients using DMS@NET will respond. If they don't however, one client I would suggest that you may want to discuss this with is Spencer Hondros (Dealer Principle of Villa Marin Buick, Pontiac GMC, Staten Island, NY). Spencer is the Chairmen of the GM Dealer IT Council and has experiences in working with all of the DSP's,and happens to be currently running EDS' DMS@NET offering. Spencer can be reached at (718) 351-3300.

Another individual you may wish to speak to is Sandi Jerome of Sandi Jerome Computer Consulting and Editor of Digital Dealer Magazine. Sandi has hands-on experience with all of the major DMS provider offerings and could advise you to what clients say about EDS and our products. Sandi can be reached at (360) 452-1857.

Hope this helps, and I certainly hope that EDS clients who monitor this forum will respond with candid feedback - positive or negative, as this is exactly how we hoped this forum would be used - peer-to-peer conversations.

Matt

[Richard]

@Net looks really good in the demo, and on paper. Matt asked for a candid answer, and I hope he doens't get upset with my response. @Net is a good product for the F&I and Sales depts, but I cannot recommend putting your parts and service dept on it. Parts loses some functions, and Service writers are really better off using "dumb" terminals, we found. Another thing we found is most of the people in our accounting office didn't care for the windows based application, prefering the 'old' green style screen. It really depends on how technically apt your employees are. I love tech, and embrace as much of the newest gee-whiz stuff that I can get my hands on, but I don't use @net on my PC in my office. I had it on every PC in the parts Dept, but took it back off because it was hard for the employees to get used to, compared to the ease of using the 'green' screen emulation. If you are a new store, and don't have any preconceptions, you might try to train everyone on @net, and don't let them know that the "Green" Screen emulator is availible. Thats my take on it, sorry about the delay in replying, I wanted to carefully consider my answer.

[Matt Parsons]

Richard, thanks for the candid reply. This is exactly how we expected this forum to be used.

A few comments by me on DMS@NET. I think Richard brings up a very good point that some percentage of the acceptance of a graphical application versus a green screen will depend upon each user. For some jobs, such as heads-down accounting and parts entry, green screen is very fast, and clients have become experts at using the text based applications. In other areas which are customer facing (sales, F&I, service write-up, etc.) I think a graphical application has advantages.

The interesting point is that DMS@NET was designed with not only future but existing clients in mind, and as Richard states allows users to use either the green screen and/or graphical application off of the same hardware (assuming you have a PC) and software. This has allowed our existing clients to migrate to DMS@NET at a pace that suits their environment, literally a desktop at a time if needed.

For our 'future' customers however, we no longer sell DEALERLINE in a green screen mode, what we do offer are full DMS@NET implementations. Our thoughts have been that as new stores come up and the cable for TCP/IP and put PC's at all workstations, it made sense that DMS@NET was at all stations.

Matt

P.S., Richard, what functionality do you perceive you have 'lost' in parts by going to DMS@NET? The reason I ask is that there should be no loss in system functionality, as DMS@NET is built off of DEALERLINE and the applications should allow for additional functionality such as easy integration to Microsoft based applications (Word, Excel, etc.) and the Internet.

[This message has been edited by Matt Parsons (edited 09-10-2001).]

[Steve Roe]

Our dealership uses both "green screens" and DMS@net. We have both versions on many computers. Employees that are used to green screens do not like the new DMS@net as well. However, newer employees use the DMS@net rather than the green screen. Training time is reduced because DMS@net looks more like what they are used to from home PC's or previous employers.

[Richard]

Some of the thing that don't work properly in Partline 2 with @Net.

You cannot transfer more than 10 items, UNLESS you use a shopping list.

You cannot use the "I" when working on a suggested order to see the sales history.

You cannot use the "I" when working on a suggested MR return.

You cannot use the core return area.
(Also, even on Emulation, why doesn't EDS have it setup up to put the current date in the Removed Date field? I forget it every time, and have to transmit a return twice to get it accepted.

Harder to move from one area to another quickly using line commands. I just find the Rumba-based emulation to be easier to use for the most part on a day to day level. And don't forget, I like High Tech.